


Vampires Will Never Hurt You

by Not_You



Category: Watchmen (Comic), Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood Drinking, Bloodlust, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, M/M, Pre-Canon, Secret Identity, Vampires, old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 19:37:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10928640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: The one where Rorschach is a new vampire.





	Vampires Will Never Hurt You

**Author's Note:**

> I accidentally stole someone else's title for this, but since it's a third party's song in the first place, I guess it's okay? Other authoranon, please drop me a line if you mind. Or if you don't. <3

Walter does his best to stay away. He's dangerous now, and he knows he can't live on rats forever. Their blood tastes sick, and it makes him feel sick, like a normal man eating bad meat. As he drains six acrid little lives in shotgun succession, he knows he will have to find something more substantial.

The Knot-Tops do for a while. He even figures out that if he licks the wound it disappears, and he sips from one after the other, just like the rats only without the death. He was too busy screaming and screaming and experimentally burning his hand in the sunlight streaming over his windowsill to even hear the name Blair Roche, and so he does not kill.

Daniel doesn't know. He wants to keep it that way, even if his dead, still heart twists in his chest when Nite Owl catches a glimpse of him one night and yells, "Rorschach, wait!" his voice so full of confusion and hurt that Rorschach claps gloved hands to his ears and tries to run faster than the speed of sound.

It's almost funny when Daniel catches him, in a net as if he really was a butterfly. He's ripping at the mesh as Daniel hauls the net into Archie's belly, and with his sharp teeth and new strength he's almost free when the hatch closes, making him scream and howl. Daniel. His only friend, the closest thing he has to family. So clever and so kind, and Rorschach knows he'll devour him. The most precious of his tiny handful of treasures will be nothing but an empty sack of meat, and he's crying when Daniel comes in. He almost doesn't notice the rabbit.

"Ohshithere!" Daniel hurls it at him. 

Walter catches it without thought and drains it, its strong back legs kicking more and more feebly before they finally stop. It's sweet. It tastes good and clean and he feels his mind coming back a little.

"Sorry, Daniel." He wipes his mouth on his sleeve, trembling. "Sorry." He sniffles and sinks to the floor.

"Hey, it's all right." Daniel says softly. "You want another one?"

Three rabbits later, he's full and physically content. "Why?" He croaks.

Daniel is sitting on the floor beside him, legs crossed, holding a mug of coffee. "You're my friend." He shrugs. "Rorschach, you could've just told me, you know. Were the rabbits good?" Rorschach nods, charmed by Daniel's sudden and senseless smile. "I found the rats, and I thought you might like something that had eaten clean food instead of trash."

"Makes a difference," he concedes. "Human animals should eat better."

"I thought those guys looked a little anemic. Where are the wounds?"

"I can make them disappear." He shrugs. "Don't know how it works. Why do you believe?"

"Uh, because I read the right sorts of books when I was a kid? And there's that old chestnut about the impossible and the improbable, after all."

Walter stares, and then pulls off his mask. Daniel nearly chokes on his coffee, and Walter is glad he understands how important this is. He wishes he wasn't quite so ugly, but that's not the point. "...R-rorschach?"

"Walter. Walter Kovacs." He stares down at his lap and at the dead rabbits. "You deserve to know, Daniel."

"...Thank you," he whispers, and takes a long swig of coffee in a futile attempt to hide the shine in his eyes. "I just thought I'd never see you again, and I had to get you back somehow." 

It doesn't take long for Daniel to make a home for Walter, because that's what he does. The cot in the basement becomes its own little room, windowless and safe, with Walter's few personal effects neatly stacked on a shelf. Daniel even subscribes to the _New Frontiersman_ for him, and Walter doesn't know how to thank him. He does his part by looking after the rabbits, living in a little hutch in the tunnel. Dan cooks what's left after Walter's done, so it's almost like sharing dinner like normal people. Walter learns to tan the hides because it seems wasteful not to, and they stack up like something out of a Jack London novel.

The first time Walter drinks from Daniel is for the most trivial, babyish reason in the world: he misses sweets. Daniel manages to wheedle this out of him the way he eventually gets the truth about everything, and when Rorschach sees him crunching down glucose tablets, he doesn't know what to make of it. When he tugs his collar aside and tells Walter to drink, he adamantly refuses. 

It only takes about half an hour for Daniel to wear him down, because Walter has already had two rabbits and even he can't really believe he'll drink enough to hurt Daniel. And he can smell the sugar in Daniel's system and it makes his mouth water.

"Come on." Daniel smiles slightly. "You've cleaned your plate so you get dessert. Besides, I want to see if this will work."

"Sit down." Walter pushes him down into his chair. "You might get light-headed and I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Sound thinking, Mr. Kovacs."

"...Daniel." He sits down beside him. "Don't let me hurt you."

Daniel takes Walter's bony wrist in one strong hand. "I'll let go when my head starts spinning, okay?"

Walter nods, leans in, and bites. Dan gasps sharply, but he doesn't let go, so obviously they're still on for this. It's sweet. It's so sweet he can hardly stand it, and Daniel's scent fills the world. He whimpers like a puppy as it all pools in his belly, the warmth there settling lower and burning hotter than he wants it to, and his free arm wraps tightly around Daniel. It seems to go on forever, but really he's too full to take more than a mouthful or two, and then he licks the wound to close it and Daniel shivers. 

He pulls away, confused and suddenly shy. He's going to tell Daniel that yes, it did work. It was very good, thank you. He doesn't get the chance to, though, because Dan has hauled him into his lap and is kissing him. Kissing him so hard that Walter's fangs cut his lips, and he just moans, licking hungrily at the blood on Walter's mouth as if he's the vampire here.

Much, much later, Daniel explains that when Walter bites him it's as sharp and as good as being fucked. For now he just kisses him and doesn't let him run away.


End file.
